Marcos realized he’d been confusing selflessness with self-abandonment . Dyer taught that we are not here to be doormats for others’ laziness or manipulation. True compassion includes saying no.
At work, Marcos was the go-to person for last-minute favors. “Hey, Marcos, can you stay late again?” “Marcos, you’re so good at this — just do it for me this once.” He never said no. He thought he was being kind, being spiritual, being like Wayne Dyer — above ego, above conflict. Wayne W Dyer 2 Evite Ser Utilizado.pdf
“You can’t pour from an empty cup — and you can’t serve your highest purpose if you’re always being drained by people who mistake your silence for permission.” At work, Marcos was the go-to person for last-minute favors
That night, Marcos opened a PDF his therapist had sent him months ago but he’d never read: “Evite Ser Utilizado” — Avoid Being Used. It wasn’t by Wayne Dyer, but it cited him heavily. One line stopped him cold: “You can’t pour from an empty cup —
The next morning, when Lisa asked him to cover her shift so she could go to a concert, Marcos took a breath and said, “No, I can’t this time. I have my own work to finish.”
Then one day, a coworker named Lisa took credit for a project Marcos had done entirely by himself. When he hesitated to speak up, his friend Elena pulled him aside.
For the first time, Marcos felt lighter. He wasn’t being rude — he was being real. And as Wayne Dyer once wrote: “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Marcos had rejected his own worth. Now, he chose to know it.